Public Works Inspector's Manual
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Introduction | Table of Contents | Back Cover

Foreword

The Public Works Inspectors' Manual is a complete operational and technical guidebook for professionals charged with the responsibility of inspecting all types of public works construction for city, county, state and federal agencies. It is unique as the most comprehensive and authentic text of its kind ever written and published. The contents should prove to be of considerable value, not only to inspection personnel but also to contractors, engineers, architects and to students considering public works inspection as a career.

The first edition of this manual was written in 1957 for use by personnel of the Bureau of Contract Administration, Department of Public Works, City of Los Angeles, and published in that year. This agency is one of the largest administrators of public works construction in the world and widely acknowledged for its expertise in modern materials and methods of construction. The publishers recognized the non-availability of such a work to serve the needs of countless other governmental agencies. To this end, the manual was edited and recast with references to departments and bureaus of the City of Los Angeles eliminated in order that the text might have general application by any other governmental agency which might adopt it for its own use.

The original author was Silas B. Birch, Jr., former Director of the Bureau of Contract Administration.

The second edition was updated and revised in 1978 by the key management personnel of the Bureau of Contract Administration. The third and fourth editions were revised and edited by the original author, Mr. Birch. This fifth edition has been revised and edited by the Bureau of Contract Administration, City of Los Angeles, and the original author, Mr. Birch, to reflect the changing technology of the construction industry to the present state of the art.

References to particular departments and bureaus and to job titles of various personnel of the public works agency which is the model for this manual are those in use by the City of Los Angeles, which is the model for the entire text.

If other public works agencies adopt this manual for their own use, and if their terminology for various departments, bureaus and personnel are different from the text of this manual, they can simply devise and declare a list of synonyms which will make all references herein workable for their local agency's counterparts.

Smaller agencies will probably have many of the functions and job responsibilities which are called out in this book combined into a lesser number of operating entities - but, by the process of co-relating these combined functions with those of the larger agencies, smaller agencies should not be inhibited from making use of the procedures and forms set forth in this manual.

Many of the specimen forms reproduced as plates in the appendix section are actual copies or variations of forms now is use by the City of Los Angeles. These reproductions can easily be adopted by other agencies by a simple title change or slight modification.

Because of the magnitude and complexities of projects in a large city and the inter-relationship between many different departments and bureaus, some procedures might appear to be cumbersome and complicated. With a little imagination, these procedures can be simplified and streamlined for use as models in smaller agencies.

Otherwise, the text material is of universal application in modern engineering construction and contains most of the background and technical information essential to the effective performance of the Construction Inspector.

The procedures set forth in this manual are designed to be compatible with the provisions of the well-known document, Standard Specifications for Public Works Construction. This manual, however, is intended as a corollary book of reference and would not take precedence over provisions of Standard Specifications or other contract documents in the event of conflict. The Inspector is emphatically reminded to read the contract documents.

The Standard Specifications for Public Works Construction, now in its eleventh edition, is just what its name implies ... a uniform standard for all public works construction to be followed by governmental agencies in a given jurisdiction who officially adopt these standards.

The first edition of the Standard Specifications, published in 1967, was researched and written by a 400-man task force representing the Joint Cooperative Committee of the Southern California Chapter, American Public Works Association, and Southern California Districts, Associated General Contractors of California. It is updated and republished every three years. As of this date, over 200 cities, counties and other agencies in the United States, follow the Standard Specifications with its state of origin, California, being the major user.

The Work Area Traffic Control Handbook ('WATCH") is referenced in this manual. This handbook is approved and endorsed by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (Southern California Section), American Public Works Association (Southern California Chapter) and City Traffic Engineers Association.

The publisher of this manual and the other public works documents described above is the firm of Building News, experts in the field of code book publishing for governmental agencies. The publisher is prepared to offer standard or customized versions of all forms depicted to all agencies interested in their adoption and use. All interested parties should contact the publisher at its headquarters, 1612 S. Clementine Street, Anaheim, California 92802, 1-800-873-6397.

Editor's Note:

The procedures and methods set forth in this Manual are widely used in the engineering construction industry, but can vary considerably with different jurisdictions, dependent upon the engineering and construction concepts prevailing in the area. This does not mean that any particular concept is necessarily better than another, but that the historical experience with a particular construction method or material has been found to produce an acceptable end product with which the jurisdiction can feel comfortable.

Wide variations in weather and the availability of suitable native materials for aggregates are just two important reasons for the Engineer to adapt methods and materials to local conditions.

One purpose of this Manual is to provide a source of reference and background material to inspection personnel so as to expand their field of knowledge in the engineering construction industry, thereby assisting them to build confidence in themselves through a better understanding of their work.

It is requested that any error or omission noted be brought to the attention of the editor, as well as any new method, material or equipment that may evolve subsequent to the publication of this edition. It will greatly assist in updating future editions.

Introduction | Table of Contents | Back Cover